Marvelous Mavis

The yard is alive with color and flowers.

Mavis is also looking really good these days.

She turned NINE on May 1st.  Hard to believe.

It was our 8th anniversary since I went to pick her up at an adoption event where 150 dogs of all ages, sizes and colors came up from South Carolina.

At that time, I was seeking a large trainable cattle dog/border collie type stock dog that would help me move the cows around the 600 acres of fields and forests.

Even though I thought she was about 90 lbs from her photo on the adoption site, and when I actually SAW her and she was a petite 24 pounds, I still brought her home with me.  Her godmother, Denise, had the good sense to pursuade me to give Mavis a chance as a cow dog.

We all know how that turned out......

See cows.  Find Mavis.  
She is 1/8 th of a mile behind the rear of this cow, even with the green bucket on the ground.   Can you find her ?   Click on the photo to enlarge it, get a GPS...and you will see her.... Sitting in the field watching me.

Regardless of her cattle skills, she has been a wonderful, gentle companion.

She has taken all the teasing in stride and is very good natured about all the stories I tell about her idiosyncrasies. 

 

Through all our trials and tribulations,Mavis has evolved into a good farm dog.

She keeps the deer, bear, coyotes and mourning doves away from the house and gardens.

Most nights she does not sleep, instead she mans her post at the window growling out the window at the assorted wildlife as they pass by my rural homestead.

Mavis has made friends with the local skunk family...again.  She seems to be a magnet for baby skunks.  She gives them baths in the front yard and then they go on their way.

This 28 pound dynamo is the sweetest dog and has turned into a great protector of the chickens and ducks.

I love this little cow dog.  She is definitely one of a kind.

Hard to believe we have been having adventures together for all these years.

Do you have a favorite companion in your life?
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